Gravity-feed bottle cooling and dispensing cabinet



April 17, 1928. v

R. E. LEE

GRAVITY FEED BOTTLE COOLING AND DISPENSING CABINET 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 30. 1926 R; E. LEE

GRAVITY FEED BOTTLE COOLING ANDDISPENSING CABINET Filed March 30. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 17, 1928.

R. E. LEE

GRAVITY FEED BOTTLE COOLING AND DISPENSING CABINS! Filed Ma}? 50. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 A ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 17, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT E. LEE, 0] CINCINNATI, OHIO.

GRAVITY-FEED IBO'JE'LIEIEE.v COOLING AND DISPENSING CABINET.

Application filed March 80, 1928. Serial No. 98,461.

My invention relates to means for storing, cooling and automatlcally feedln bottles containing beverages, such as soft rinks.

The objects of my invention are to provide simple, compact, economical, convenientand eflicient bottle cooling and feeding cabinets for use wherever bottled beverages are dispensed.

My invention consists in provldlng a cabinet containing a cooling agent, such as ice, and having a series of vertical chutes or slotted compartments in which the bottles containing the liquid may be separately in-' serted horizontally and drawn downwardly location of parts, as well as in the several novel features, claimed.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the invention, partly broken away to show the inner construction Fig. 2'is a vertical cross section taken ,on line 2-2 of Fig. 1'; J

Fig.3 is-an enlarged as herein set forth and detail view showing the manner of inserting the bottles within the guideways Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the plane corresponding to line 44 of Fig. 2; I

Fig. 5 is a transverse cross-section of the invention taken on a plane corresponding to line 5 -5 of Fi 6;

tion

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view showing one of the bottle-guideways in cross-section and a bottle in elevation;

131g. 8 is a section showing a modification; n

Fig. 6 is-a ront elevation of the invenis a side elevation showing a modi- I fied construction.

In the embodiment of my invention as illustrated and which shows preferred constructions, I provide a'bottle-cooler and au- 66 tomatic-feeder which comprises cabinet 1,

ice-compartment2 and bottle-guideways 3. Cabinet 1 is supported by legs 4 and has doors 5, 6, 7 and 8, respectively, and lid 9.

Cabinet 1 is constructed of double walls 10 Q0 and 11 between which cork-insulation 12 is placed for the purpose of making cabinet 1 suitable for retaining cold air within the cabinet and preventing warm air on the outside from entering'it. Lid 9 may be lifted 05 v olf in order to place ice 13 within ice-compartment 2. Ice 13 rests on corrugated rack 14 which is supported by cross-bars 15. Said v bars are supported by cross-members 16 secured to the Inside of inner walls 11 and angle-members 3" by suitable fastening means, such as rivets 17.

' Bottle-guideways 3 are formed of metal partitions, the outer end 3' being bent upon itself'to form right-angle member 3" (Fig. 1|

7). The inner end of said partition has a similar bend forming right-angle member 3' which is secured to one of the cross-members 16 by rivets '17. Towards the top 20 of cabinet 1 right-angle members 3" are cut 0 away at 21 (as shown in Figs. 1 and 3) to form openings sothat bottles 22 may be partly inserted within ,guideways 3, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The sectional view (Fig. ,7) shows how the right-angle mems5 bers 3". guide the necks 22' of bottles 22 after said bottles pass below said openings or cut-out recesses 21. Doors 5., and 6, respectively. are pivoted to cabinet 1 by hinges 23 and when closed are held by latches 24 mounted on central column or jamb 25 (F1gs.'-5 and 6). Doors 7 and 8 are also pivoted to cabinet 1 by hinges 26 and are provided. with handles 27 .and 28, respectively. Said doo rs.5 and "6. may be proon vided with glass to enable the owner of the cabinet to see how many bottles habits in each guideway 3, without opening the doors. The lower portions of the guide-ways are curved and right-angle members 3 are bent to a vertical position, as shown in Fig.

1 to form space to permit the bottles 22 to be removed separately or one at a time.

Inclined strips 29 are secured to the bottom.30 ofii cabinet 1 between the respective guideway partitions by rivets 31 and extend upwardly between guideways 3 (as shown in Figs. 1 and 2) for the purpose of taking the weight oil of the first bottle 22 and permit it'to be easily removed when desired for serving. After the bottle 22 is removed bottle 22 is forced up into its placeby the weight of the other bottles 22. When it is desired to have the bottles'22 pass through ice water 32 it is necessary to have anoyerflow pipe 33 located in the side of cabinet 1. at the desired height of said ice water. However. the bottles 22 may be thoroughly cooled without passing them through the. ice water 32. This is accomplished by inserting a partition 33 between the guideways 3 and back 34 of cabinet 1. as shown in the modified construction in Fig. 9.

Screen 35 is not necessary when cooling cabinet 1 with a block of ice 13 but it has been found in practice to be necessary when cooling the cabinet with cracked or chipped ice. as chipped ice has a tendency to melt and freeze in a solid mass-and protrude intoguideways 3 which interferes-with the feeding of bottles 22.

The operation of my invention lows:

is as fol- Assuming that the ice-compartment 2 has I been supplied with ice 13 the next step is to load the uidewavs 3 with bottles 22. This is accomplished by opening door 5 or 6 and inserting bottles 22. one at a time. through cut-away ,or opening 21 into guidewavs J 3.

It is necessaryto hold onto bottle-neck 22' while inserting sa d bottles 22 within said guidewavs until it rests againstthe next bottle. After each guideway'3 on one side has been filled with bottles 22 the door on that side is closed to retain the cold air and exclude the warm air and need -not be again opened until it is necessary to refill said mudewavs. After said guidewavs have been Y filled with bottles. in order to remove bottle 22 in .any guidewav 3. simply raise oor 7 or 8. according to the bottle of desire tents required and lift. said bottle out. whereupon the weight .of the bottles 22 forces bott e 22 into the position just occupied by bottle 22. and so on.v until the entire number of bottles have been removed. A-.- suitable outlet 36' is provided to drain the cabinet when desired.

An advantage of my invention is that the cabinet 1 is so constructed as to deliver the bottles 22 by gravity feed to the compart;

ment, beneath doors 7 and 8, convenient for COH- through ice water, thereby enabling the own er to servethe bottles in a cold dry con-' dition, thus avoiding the usual disadvantage of wet bottles which are not only mussy" to handle but often-times drip on the customers clothing.

My invention 1s capable of modification without departing from the scope or spirit thereof as defined in the claims. as for instance, the partitions for the guideways may be constructed, as shown in Fig. 8 in which it is formed of three pieces instead of one. the flange parts being bent in the shape of a T with the partition 3' inserted therein and riveted. This manner of construction is'easier and more economical than that shown in Fig. 7: also the device may be pro .vided with partition 33, as shown in Fig. 9,

to enable the bottles to be served dry, as heretofore explained; further in this latter construction the ice-compartment is placed at a lower elevation which renders it easier to insert the ice and also requires less material in its construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as-new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. k gravity feed bottle cooling cabinet provided with acooling agent and having a bottle chute extending from vertical to horizontal position whereby the bottles are fed therethrough from parallel horizontal position to parallel vertical position and guiding means adapted to direct the lower end bottle to an elevated position parallel to the next succeeding bottle whereby it may be easily withdrawn vertically and end-' wise from said cabinet.

2. In a gravity feed bottle cooling cabinet provided with a cooling agent, a slotted chute extending Vertically downward and curved forward into a horizontal position, means for opening and closing said cabinet whereby bottles ma be inserted into the horizontal portion of said chute in vertical parallel relation and whereby bottles may be inserted into the vertical portion and intermediate portion of said chute in substantially parallel relation with each other in such a manner that as the bottles are fed forward by gravity they assume a verticalposition in the horizontal portion, and

an inclined track in said horizontal portion adapted to support the lower end bottle in elevated position relative to the other bottles for easy and convenient remc al of said end bottle.

" w Q v e 3.111 a. me cooler name of the 4 meweeml r mdum; a perclass described, a guideway formed of 'pa'rtitionj'ffievingj e vertleel front flange --retitions'and having flanges adapted to 011-, J 1 its bpgndgurv'ed downwardly gage the neck of the bottles and hold them and outwardlynear the bottom end beut 5 in P 'P moon therein said flanges be verticelly near italoyerlehd with 1 m ing bent su ntially parallel with 83111 perholding flange at the and; titions at their lower ends .to permit reed e removal of the bottles. e IBOBERT'E. LEE. 

